Fleeing in panic toward the dense forests of the northern mountains surrounded by numerous bodyguards, Ma Xun wanted to cry but had no tears.
In less than the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, Tanzhou forces were completely penetrated by Liang iron cavalry. Ma Rong’s armor was slashed open at the left chest and right shoulder, the wounds deep enough to see white bone. His left armpit was pierced by a spear. When bodyguards desperately rescued him, he had already fallen unconscious.
Utterly powerless to reverse the defeat, they could only flee deeper into the dense forest.
Fortunately, the enemy cavalry didn’t pursue them relentlessly, allowing them to catch their breath when they retreated to the forest’s edge.
But by this time, Tanzhou forces had been completely scattered. Every moment, Tanzhou warriors were falling beneath Liang iron hooves. Their screams mixed with the clanging sounds of weapons and armor striking together—so heart-stopping and terrifying.
Zhu Yu wore a blue cloth robe draped over his armor. Surrounded by over a hundred elite cavalry, he galloped up a low slope, taking in the entire northwestern battlefield. Of course he also saw the gleaming armor Ma Xun wore—so over-decorated as to appear showy and impractical—standing out conspicuously at the battlefield’s edge.
However, Zhu Yu didn’t order pursuit of Ma Xun, who had only two or three hundred bodyguards clustered around him. Instead, he aimed to kill and wound as many Chu army soldiers and officers as possible on this valley battlefield.
All three thousand Black Armored Elite cavalry had already surged from the valley. A thousand cavalry waited on the eastern bank of the stream gully, closely watching the battlefield situation develop. Two thousand cavalry split into over ten squads, charging back and forth repeatedly through the Chu army’s chaotic ranks, prioritizing attacks on Chu forces whose fighting will hadn’t yet collapsed, cutting the Chu army into scattered groups large and small, preventing any possibility of them regrouping.
The battle finally ended when the sun reached the treetops. Though many Chu soldiers fled in panic into the deep mountain forests on both flanks, over four thousand mangled corpses still remained in the valley. Blood soaked the earth—the battlefield a scene of bloody mud.
After the battle ended, the turbid stream once again became clear, but as fresh blood flowed in, it turned bright red—a kind of cruel, vivid beauty.
At this time, over three thousand unarmed laborers were herded into a mountain hollow and held under guard.
“Your Highness truly has divine foresight, predicting that Ma Xun would be as timid as a mouse, certain to flee in panic toward Suizhou upon seeing our iron cavalry pass through,” said a general wearing blue-green armor as he rode over, dismounting before the hill and striding forward with these words ringing out.
“Tanzhou forces reinforcing Xiangzhou were inherently hesitant and wavering. Their retreat and escape to Suizhou wasn’t difficult to predict. They perhaps thought I would let them off, but the battlefield changes in an instant—how could I allow them to retreat into Suizhou to watch for changes in the battle situation?” Zhu Yu smiled calmly and serenely.
“Should we send someone to pursue and kill Ma Xun?” the blue-armored general asked.
“At this point in Jing-Xiang, he can’t stir up any trouble. Leaving his insignificant life, he may prove useful later,” Zhu Yu said, unwilling to waste more time and forces on Ma Xun. He asked the blue-armored general, “What movements are there west of Zaoyang city?”
“Battle reports from west of Zaoyang haven’t come back yet, but Zhong Yanhu can be considered quite a figure. After leaving Zaoyang city, he actually dared to retreat independently west toward the Han River. His formation is well-ordered, and their combat strength surpasses other Chu provincial troops. Yang Xiong only has just over two thousand light cavalry in hand—he may not be able to chew through this hard bone at the Han River’s edge,” the blue-armored general said.
Zhu Yu wasn’t concerned about this matter. The battlefield changes in an instant—it must always be grasped by the commanding general on the front lines. He asked again, “Any new changes at Xichuan?”
“Yang Yuanpu is nothing but a young child. Even personally rushing to Xichuan to take command, he only has over ten thousand miscellaneous troops in hand, still divided to guard four locations—not worth fearing,” the blue-armored general said.
“Yang Yuanpu has Han Qian, Li Zhigao, and Shen Yang assisting him. Upon first arriving at Xichuan, he executed Xia Zhen to bolster military authority. I suspect they may have already seen through our deployment long ago,” Zhu Yu said, his expression truly growing grave at this moment.
“If they had truly seen through it early, why would Zaoyang city have been completely unprepared?” the blue-armored general asked in confusion.
“Perhaps they, like us, determined that Ma Xun was hesitant and wavering, not trustworthy—informing Ma Xun in advance wouldn’t benefit them?” At this moment, Zhu Yu’s grave expression also revealed a trace of uncertainty. Of course he hoped the Chu army had only truly recognized their deployment yesterday, but as a qualified commander, excessive optimism or presumptuously assuming formidable enemies were overly foolish was never appropriate.
However, next they still had to first resolve the eastern front, cutting off Chu army reinforcements from the Han River’s eastern bank. Zhu Yu temporarily suppressed his worries about the western front and asked the blue-armored general, “The valley to the east—have you heard of any remnant troops slipping through?”
“Your Highness arranged over three hundred cavalry to blockade the eastern passage, and this Chu force was struck head-on by us—there shouldn’t be anyone who could slip through,” the blue-armored general said.
“Good. Chen Kun, immediately arrange for three or four hundred cavalry to change into blood-stained Chu armor and disguise themselves as Chu troops fleeing to Suizhou city. After capturing Suizhou city, return to Zaoyang to rendezvous with me…” Zhu Yu said.
The blue-armored general Chen Kun received orders and relayed commands. He first arranged for over three hundred cavalry to change into Chu blood-soaked clothing and advance ahead, also picking up a Chu general’s banner. Afterward, he led over a thousand elite cavalry pursuing behind them, leaving fifteen or sixteen hundred cavalry to follow Prince Yong, escorting over three thousand captured laborers back to Zaoyang…
……
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The Han River passed between Xiangzhou city and Fancheng. Sixty-plus li eastward, it abruptly turned south, flowing straight into the Yangtze River seven to eight hundred li away, never turning back again in between.
On the eastern bank at the great bend of the Han River was a stretch of rolling low hills. This was the southern edge of the Nanyang Basin, also the remaining range of Dahong Mountain’s northwestern foothills, though the terrain was no longer sufficient to block the passage of cavalry and infantry.
The sparse forests along the riverbank had shed their branches and leaves after winter set in. With no signs of human habitation near or far, it appeared especially desolate.
Before spring waters rose, the river was narrow and thin. Large stretches of mudflats were exposed along the riverbank. Over ten white-feathered river birds flew and swooped over the riverbanks, occasionally diving suddenly toward the river surface to catch fish leaping from the water before flying back to higher altitude.
Over twenty oared sailing ships shot like arrows released from bowstrings from the west, passing through the bay mouth without any deceleration.
Hundreds of oarsmen in the cold air all went bare-chested, shouting as they pulled the great oars. Their robust muscles were like cast iron, sweat dripping down.
Jin Rui, Chief Officer of the Deng-Xiang Division of the Office of Operations, accompanying over two thousand Xiangzhou army soldiers and officers eastward to receive and support the retreat of Zhong Yanhu’s troops, stood at the bow of an oared sailing ship about seven zhang long.
At this time, he could already see that eleven or twelve li to the south, a Chu force was surrounded by dense masses of Liang troops on a low hill at the riverbank.
Though facing Liang forces several times their number pressing in, this Chu force, backed against the deep blue-green Han River, showed not the slightest intent to avoid battle. They continuously detached troops, raising swords and shields high, counterattacking the pressing Liang army.
The ships moved like arrows released from bowstrings, approaching the low slope. Jin Rui saw with increasing clarity an exceptionally tall and robust fierce general wielding twin halberds, leading from the front, repeatedly pushing back Liang troops attempting to charge forward.
Though this fierce general’s body was riddled with feathered arrows, his movements showed no signs of slowing—he must be wearing several layers of armor to fearlessly withstand concentrated enemy arrows.
However, wearing several layers of armor while still able to wield a pair of iron halberds like the wind, advancing and retreating freely with soldiers and officers left and right—such strength was utterly shocking.
Perhaps it was precisely because this fierce general stood at the front of the formation like a rock that the Chu army behind him could withstand such heavy casualties without their morale collapsing?
Though the hill wasn’t high, the side facing the shore had relatively gentle terrain—this was precisely the side from which the Liang army continuously launched attacks. The two sides were rather steep and slanted, like a dam two to three hundred meters long built on the rather open riverbank.
From Jin Rui’s vantage point, he could see that on the northern face of the slope, three to four hundred corpses were piled on the riverbank—soldiers and officers from both Chu and Liang armies, all with severed limbs and broken arms. Blood had stained red a corner of the water eddies on the northern face of the slope.
The sounds of killing and warhorses’ mournful cries carried against the wind—at this moment, they made the hot blood in Jin Rui’s chest feel like it would ignite.
Zhao Mingting, Chief of the Office of Operations, when evaluating Great Chu’s younger generation of mid-level commanders, had said that if given space to develop, Zhong Yanhu would surely become a great general on the level of Zhang Xiang or Du Chongtao in the future. So it seemed Magistrate Zhao’s eye for people was truly extraordinary.
Jin Rui was also secretly shocked and felt fortunate.
Ma Xun had refused to lead his troops in retreat to Xiangzhou city, instead taking the Right Forward Division’s main garrison forces in retreat to Suizhou. Only Zhong Yanhu had sent someone across the river requesting rescue and troop ships for support—but at that time, Zhong Yanhu’s troops had already made contact with the second batch of Liang army main forces advancing south from Tang River.
No one in Xiangzhou city believed that Zhong Yanhu’s troops, with only fifteen hundred Jiangzhou soldiers, could hold out until Xiangzhou army arrived in time.
Jin Rui had insisted on suggesting to Xu Zhaoling and Du Chongtao that they dispatch reinforcements to support Zhong Yanhu.
Looking now, their arrival was still timely. If delayed another hour or two, no matter how invincible a warrior Zhong Yanhu was, entangled by Liang forces several times his number, there would eventually come a moment when his strength was exhausted and he died in battle.
The reinforcement commander directed the oared sailing ships to approach the slope, using bows, arrows, and mounted crossbows to drive back the Liang army on the riverbank side, first clearing out the slope’s flank.
The riverbank had much muddy marshland, unfavorable for the Liang army to form up and attack from shore. Scattered Liang soldiers and officers were insufficient to resist reinforcements finding high ground on the riverbank to land and form up.
The reinforcements found a dry patch of ground on the northern face of the slope at the riverbank and established a foothold. With over ten mounted crossbows capable of shooting over two hundred paces set up on warships on their flank in the river providing cover, Zhong Yanhu’s troops could boldly retreat down the slope, treading through muddy riverbanks and icy shallow water to rendezvous with reinforcements, without fearing the Liang army could pursue them in scattered fashion.
“The pain is killing me!”
Zhong Yanhu was supported and helped aboard an oared sailing ship by his subordinates. With his subordinates’ assistance removing his heavy armor, they inevitably touched the arrow shafts protruding from his body.
Though Zhong Yanhu had worn three layers of iron armor while charging into battle, several sharp arrows had still penetrated all three layers of armor plates, drilling deep into the muscles of his ribs and shoulders and back.
These were positions Zhong Yanhu couldn’t protect while fighting desperately.
Now, when removing the armor touched arrow shafts that couldn’t be completely cut away, the pain made Zhong Yanhu howl.
Jin Rui ran over at this time to check Zhong Yanhu’s injuries. Seeing the three sets of armor removed at the bow that together must weigh a hundred forty to fifty jin, he thought to himself—what kind of divine strength must one possess to simultaneously wear these three sets of armor, large, medium, and small, and charge into battle for so long?
And for enemy troops to shoot seven or eight arrows that could penetrate three layers of armor plates—Jin Rui also secretly felt that this archer hidden among the Liang army must be using an astonishingly powerful bow.